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IT Reform at the U.S. Department of Commerce

Submitted on June 1, 2011 - 11:15am

Guest blog by Simon Szykman, Chief Information Officer at the Department of Commerce

The IT community at the U.S. Department of Commerce has been hard at
work implementing Federal IT Reform as outlined by U.S. Chief
Information Officer Vivek Kundra last December. After only six months,
our list of accomplishments is impressive, but there is still much to be
done to meet the ambitious goals set forth in the 25 Point
Implementation Plan to Reform Federal IT Management. The plan represents
not just a change in strategy, but a change in thinking among the
technology leaders in the administration and at the Commerce Department.
Moving toward a leaner, cloud-driven and collaborative approach is a
significant shift in philosophy, and we are aggressively incorporating
these ideas into our strategic IT planning process. To date, we have
closed six Commerce data centers, with a total of nine scheduled to be
closed by the end of the year. Consolidating data centers will
significantly lower the agency’s carbon footprint, save us millions of
dollars each year, and allow for more effective use of resources as we
streamline our infrastructure to become more efficient. Every major
change presents both challenges and opportunities, and we are taking
full advantage of this opportunity to enhance the security of the
department’s IT operations while also improving our performance. During
the 2010 Census, cloud computing enabled us to handle a once-in-a-decade
peak in demand (over five million hits per week) for Census information
without having to add permanent capacity. By harnessing the power of
the cloud, we were able to offer a compelling set of blogs, videos and
interactive tools that encouraged participation in the Census. With
several more projects in the pipeline, we continue to pursue the goal of
thinking “Cloud First” when it comes to IT.

Two months ago, the department held its first TechStat meeting to
address underperforming investments. A closer look at the National
Weather Service’s Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) project
illuminated the need for both an on-site project manager and a higher
degree of subject-matter expertise for the specialized technical work
associated with the effort. This sort of focused scrutiny is exactly
what is needed to ensure that critical projects remain on track. The
Commerce Department is currently assessing many of its major IT
investments to determine which ones will benefit from a TechStat
reviews. Other initiatives that we have undertaken to enhance
productivity and performance include the establishment of an Enterprise
Risk Management function. Together, these steps are helping to create a
holistic framework that will improve management and oversight of our IT
programs.

The department is also moving forward aggressively on strategic sourcing
initiatives aimed at reducing the cost of purchasing commodity products
at Commerce and improving efficiencies. Three of the initial areas
where we are executing new strategically sourced contracts involve IT
products and services.

Lastly, because IT requires a multi-year planning process, there is an
inevitable lag in the ability to change major programs. The changes to
our three-year planning process that have been sparked by IT reforms are
where the most permanent and significant impacts of this shift in
philosophy will be felt. As these reforms advance, the benefits to the
efficiency and effectiveness of government-wide operations will become
widespread and long-lasting. It will take steadfast commitment and
unprecedented interagency collaboration to fully internalize these
management reforms, but I am confident that the Commerce Department team
is up to the challenge.